She sighed. “After what you put me through, how could I think anything else?” When he closed his eyes, she decided to change the subject. “All that aside, Mason, she wouldn’t willingly leave home. Bethany would never do that.”
“How do you know, Lacey?” He opened his eyes, but narrowed them at her. His soft tone couldn’t hide the steel undercurrent in his words.
“Because I know Bethany. She was full of empty threats, but she would never go off on her own.” Biting her lower lip, she wondered if she should tell him exactly why. Bethany would be mortified if she ever found out Lacey shared one of her deepest, darkest secrets with him.
But she would if it meant convincing him. Even her parents didn’t know Bethany’s secret.
Without another word, he simply motioned for her to get in the car.
Once they were buckled and heading away from the school, she asked, “Where are we going?”
“To the station. I want to talk to Daniel.”
She gulped and looked out the window.
“Tell me something about her,” he said suddenly.
She knew what he meant. He wanted her to tell him something that would help him get to know his daughter a little better.
“She’s always comparing herself to a missing puzzle piece.” Lacey wasn’t sure why she picked that particular fact to share, but it seemed right. “What?”
Lacey breathed a little laugh, wishing she could inject some humor in it. “She says that sometimes her life feels like a puzzle, but there’s a piece missing.”
“Me?”
“I asked her that, and she said that was part of it, but she said she just never seems to be able to find her niche. Where she fits.”
“She found friends here.” He looked confused.
“She did. From the time Bethany turned seven, we had to move around a lot in North Carolina.” She shrugged.
“I didn’t like it, but I had to go where I could find a job. Several times my job only lasted a year or two and we’d move again. Then finally we moved here.” She shrugged.
“I guess she’s just missing some roots maybe.”
“Maybe.”
“The one good thing that came from moving here is she finally found friends in Kayla and Georgia. And while she and Georgia are great buddies, she just really seemed to connect with Kayla from the moment they met.” Lacey gave a sad smile. “She said they got along so well because they were like two pieces missing from their completed puzzle and until they found where they fit or where they belonged, they would love and support each other. BFFs.”
“They sound like a couple of great kids.”
“They are. I mean, Bethany is and Kayla was.” She bit her lip. “I still can’t believe she’s dead some days. And poor Bethany. She was just devastated. She started spending all of her free time at the karate school.”
“Georgia mentioned something about that. How long has she been studying martial arts?”
“From the time she was three. We were at a spring festival one afternoon and a karate school had a demonstration. She was riveted and begged to take lessons. Finally, I gave in and signed her up. That was one thing I made sure of before we moved. That wherever we wound up had to have a dojo, or marital arts school. Fortunately, I never had to move too far from where we started out and she was able to go to the same karate school for a long time. It was worth the drive to keep some consistency in her life.” Lacey rubbed her eyes. “I think her being able to focus on the martial arts helped her get through a lot of emotional stuff. When Kayla died, Bethany spent even more time at the dojo.”
Mason raised a brow and said, “Then we need to talk to all of the kids at the school. The ones she had class with or hung out with.”
Lacey flushed. “I don’t know if it would do any good. She wasn’t close to any of them. She said most of the students there weren’t serious about the sport and played too much.”
Lifting his phone to his ear, he spoke into it. “Catelyn, we need to question Bethany’s instructor and classmates at the karate school on Brownstock Road. Lacey said Bethany spent a lot of time there.”
He must have gotten an affirmative response because he hung up. When he spoke again, he changed the subject. “Sounds like she’s been through a lot lately. Honestly, if it wasn’t for those weird pictures showing up at each of our respective houses and the fact that you were just attacked, I might be inclined to agree with your mother.”
“But you don’t.”
A tense hand curled around the steering wheel. She watched the color fade from his knuckles. A muscle jumped in his cheek. “No, I don’t. It all seems too weird to be coincidental. And the attacker basically confirmed that Bethany met with foul play by what he said to you.”
“Yeah.” She swallowed hard and felt the tears gather. Foul play. She sure didn’t like the sound of that. Especially not when it was used in conjunction with her missing daughter.
Mason pulled into the police station parking lot. Lacey climbed out and felt dread cramp her stomach. Daniel Ackerman was inside. He was the last man on the planet she wanted to face.
But for Bethany, she’d do it.
FIVE
Mason kept the smile in place as Daniel walked toward them. With one hand on Lacey’s upper arm, he could feel her muscles tense.
A fine tremor shook her, but she held her head high and met Daniel’s gaze with a classiness Mason grudgingly admired.
He wished the memories of the last time the three of them had been in the same area would quit bombarding him. Renewed anger flooded him as old feelings of betrayal and soul-searing hurt came back with a vengeance.
With superhuman effort, he pushed aside his emotions and watched the approaching man.
When Daniel caught sight of Lacey and recognized her, shock flashed and he gave a slight stumble.
Interesting.
“Lacey Gibson?”
“Hello, Daniel.” Her voice was low. If he hadn’t been listening for it, Mason would have missed the slight wobble.
Daniel paused to offer a hand to Mason. Mason shook it then felt like excusing himself to find some soap and water. Instead, he got right to the point. “Lacey’s daughter is missing.”
“Bethany Gibson is your daughter?” Daniel had gathered his usual cool demeanor back and his face now showed no expression other than professional concern. He looked at Lacey. “You’ve heard nothing from her?”
“Nothing.” The clipped, one-word answer told Mason Lacey was on shaky ground. However it didn’t stop her from pulling a folded piece of paper from her purse and handing it over to the man.
Daniel took it and Mason nodded toward Daniel’s office. “Can we talk?”
Daniel hesitated, looked Lacey up and down as though trying to convince himself she was really standing there, then said, “Sure, come on back.”
Once in the office, Lacey seated herself on the edge of the brown couch, shoulders held stiff, fingers pinched around the strap of her small purse.
Daniel cleared his throat and looked like he might say something of a personal nature then focused on the flyer in front of him. “We have a missing persons report filed and we have officers keeping an eye out for her based on the picture you provided when you filed the report. I don’t